Colony forming fern with a widely creeping rhizome, possibly the most abundant fern in South Africa. Can be invasive in disturbed areas and form dense thickets. Fronds soft when young, hard and stiff when mature, 800mm long x 450mm wide; pinnae set at right angles to the rachis, pinnules generally deeply incised. Sori are linear and continuous and situated just inside the inrolled margins.

Fronds and stipes emerge from the ground over a wide area and do not arise from a tufted rhizome.

Latin: aquilina = of an eagle; referring possibly to the spreading pinnae which suggest an image of an eagle with wings spread.